A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Reflections on a Watershed Event - The Weberman Trial

by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz

Nechemya Weberman

The following words need no introduction. They are reproduced from Rabbi Horowitz's website and speak for themselves. I would only add that they echo much of what I have said on the subject in the past. - HM

With Nechemya Weberman convicted and awaiting sentencing,
here are some reflections upon the trial and why Project YES supported his
victim in a very public manner.

We got involved in the spring when it became clear that a
young victim still within the statute of limitations was actually committed to
pressing charges and testifying against her molester. In the process of doing
due diligence, I personally heard from four additional victims of
Weberman, all of whom were terrified to come forward and press charges because
of community intimidation. They didn't know each other, but they all told
the same stories, described similar forms of physical abuse - some of which
became public knowledge during the trial.

Just one horrific example: Those of us close to the case
heard from the victims that Weberman was burning many of them on their abdomens
with cigarette lighters and candles as part of his warped fantasies. However,
this was only discussed at a side bar during his trial and did not become
public knowledge until this New York Post Article ran a few days after the
verdict.

Two chassidish men, both in their thirties and well
integrated into the community told me that Weberman burned their wives on their
abdomens while violating them. One of the fellows said that he first discovered
the abuse when his wife screamed and nearly fainted when he inadvertently
passed a (havdala) candle close to her midsection. It was only then, that she
told him the story of what she had gone through in her "counseling
sessions" with Weberman.

Weberman's other victims revealed details that matched those
of the plaintiff in this case, which in the aggregate indicated that he was
conducting an evil, calculated, and highly successful Grooming Process. This included humiliating his victims,
and telling them that no one will ever believe messed-up kids like them.
He deliberately turned the parents against their children, telling them,
among other things, that their son or daughter was a pathological liar, in
order to have his defense in place should the kids ever reveal his abuse.

Weberman even told some of the girls he was abusing, that
they were reincarnated separately, but they had been married to him in a
previousgilgul (lifetime), and that the intimate acts he was performing
were intended as a form of te'shuva (repentance) for sins committed
in their previous lifetimes. Keep in mind that many of his victims were
innocent, pre-teen girls who were raised in a very sheltered environment, and
that Weberman was presented to them by their school as a distinguished rabbi -
lending credence to whatever story he spun to them.

Weberman carefully selected his victims from a
pool of families who had marital issues or an elder child who was on drugs or
no longer observant, correctly assuming that those parents would lack the
self-confidence to do battle with him should they suspect anything wrong.

He was also very cautious not to abuse the children of
well-connected families. None of his victims who have come to our attention are
very wealthy or named Teitelbaum or Twersky (dynastic rabbinic families) - only
from what Leona Helmsley famously called the "little people."

Once it became clear that Weberman appeared to be a serial
pedophile, we recognized that this was a unique opportunity to break the wall
of silence about abuse in the Charedi world. The "Establishment"
responded to the accusations by holding a huge fundraiser to raise a half million dollars
for Weberman's defense.

Shortly thereafter, we were notified from those close to the
case that thevictim's family was under unbearable pressure from the
community after the fundraiser. The DA was concerned that she would do what so
many others before her had done - buckle under to the pressure and refuse to
testify. Indeed, four men were subsequently arrested for attempting to bribe the victim to the
tune of $500,000 to drop the charges.

Keep in mind that this brave young victim, not yet eighteen,
had been repeatedly molested by Weberman from the young age of twelve until she
was fifteen. (For all those asking what defense attorney Mr. Farkas kept
raising during the trial -why didn't she come forward earlier - take a
careful look at the size and maturity level of the precious 12-year-old kinderlach in
your neighborhood. That ought to answer your question.) Knowing she would need
help, we went public and urged our readers to Stand With the Victim and offer her emotional support
in a post on our website two weeks after the fundraiser (May 30, 2012). We
asked our readers to post comments of encouragement and to contact the Brooklyn
DA requesting police protection for her family as needed.

Sadly, in the Williamsburg community there seemed to be
almost universal support for Weberman (which is not at all unusual in child
abuse cases - the abusers frequently get away with it for so long since
they are otherwise well-respected, upstanding, charismatic members of the
community) flinging slings and arrows at the victim attempting to ruin her
reputation and totally undermine her credibility.

We then decided to embark on a campaign to educate the
public about Weberman's wildly inappropriate methods of counseling the young
girls in his care with this post What Went Terribly Wrong. We pointedly highlighted hisflagrant
violations of Hilchos Yichud (if these young girls had been in a
locked apartment containing a bedroom with an "outsider" for
counseling sessions for four hours a day, three times a week instead
of with Rabbi Weberman, the community would have been in an uproar). Hearing
about hiseleven hour car trip alone with her to the Catskills caused many
to rethink their position on what was really going on.

In the lead-up to and during the trial, we posted Clear and Present Dangerexplaining the halachic reasons
that predators need to be reported to the police, and The Halo Effect explaining how predators get away with
their abuse.

Most people simply do not want to know about child abuse, as
the entire subject makes them feel ill. Therefore, if just makes it harder to
educate parents about abuse overall and how the grooming process works (here
is a fantastic piece by Malcom Gladwell, In Plain View on grooming. A must read for parents.)
Additionally, the cultural norms that have not allowed the Charedi press to
cover the Weberman trial just adds to the disconnect and Cognitive Dissonance which is causing such harm to our
kids.

Weberman's supporters are running a $1,000,000 campaign for
his appeal, and they are going all out in a public relations effort, including
this past week's Amimagazine where George Farkas, Weberman's attorney,
graced the front cover and asserted Weberman's innocence.

It is heartening that many of Weberman's other victims
are now finding their voices - albeit only whispering to friends and
family members. But the deadly wall of silence is showing growing cracks. Mr.
Heinz, the Brooklyn DA went on record in several interviews that there is "at
least one more victim," (who has come forward but is afraid to testify),
and his ADA's have previously stated that they are in conversations with six of
Weberman's victims.

In the charedi community, respected people are stepping
forward. Ezra Friedlander, just released a column where he mentions
a second Weberman victim and we will probably hear much more of this in the
near future. There are simply too many survivors of his to keep this quiet
forever. If or when they decide to go to the DA, the press, or to join in a
class action law suit, the lid will probably come completely off.

Weberman is a monster who had incredible access to
young girls and boys and married women for many, many years. What is so
frightening is that those who are coming forward now are the married women,
as the single girls are afraid of ruining their shidduch prospects. We shudder
to think of how many single victims of his are out there continuing to suffer
in silence.

Research shows that the average pedophile molests
50-200 children in his lifetime. With the level of access that Weberman
had, and the naiveté' of the kids he worked with, ... may Hashem have mercy.

The ongoing publicity proclaiming Weberman an innocent man
is a dagger in the already broken hearts of his survivors. According to
firsthand reports I received from professional therapists, even those
survivors of Weberman's abuse who are grown and married are traumatized by
these fundraisersto the extent that they are exhibiting signs of PTSD. It is for this reason alone that I feel it is a
matter of pikuach nefesh (a matter of life and death) to give voice
to his voiceless victims and publicize the true story of what transpired.

Standing with the victim and speaking truth to power the way
we did was not a pleasant task, nor is it one that is risk-free, but we are
determined to see this through.

My family spent this past Rosh Hashana with 200 Jewish
recovering drug and alcohol addicts - the vast majority of whom ended up that
way after being molested in their formative years. After listening to their
horror stories and seeing the hell each and every one of them is undergoing, I
promised myself that during the coming year I will redouble my efforts and do
whatever it takes to keep today's kids safe.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.